Lucy Charuk

Classroom

Charuk is a member of the University of Houston College of Technology and will earn a degree in Consumer Sciences and Merchandising. Entering her senior season she needs 15 hours to complete her degree and plans to graduate in the spring of 2012. During the spring 2011 semester, Charuk contributed to the team’s 3.37 GPA by completing 18 hours with a 3.49 GPA. In addition to her strong performance in the classroom, she is also an extremely talented artist.

Character

Charuk has shown an amazing development in leadership, character and personal motivation. Leadership has been demanded of her from the staff, and she has emerged as both a leader by example and vocally. Her personality has poured out while gaining confidence and strength from her role on the team. Her weakest area of leadership was evident in her studies. She made it a priority to get on track academically and show her team her level of commitment to it. After one semester, she jumped to a 3.49 GPA, only one hundredth of a point from the Dean’s List. In turn, she has shared this experience with her teammates and has posed as an example to them of what motivation can produce. This lesson, coming from a peer is invaluable to a team and translates to experiences both on and off the court. She is the centerpiece to this team and every player recognizes her in this role. She is the friend, enforcer, team organizer, mentor, leader, and captain within this program.

Community

During the past year Charuk as served as an Emerging Leader in the Cougar Pride Leadership Academy. The Emerging Leader program is designed for selected sophomore and junior student-athletes and provides current and future team captains with insights, strategies and skills necessary to become effective leaders on their team, on campus and in the community. In addition, Charuk makes regular visits to Texas Children’s Hospital with her teammates to visit with patients. She also assisted at Camp Lawrenz, which was held at Spring Woods Middle School in Houston. The camp’s purpose is to raise interest and focus for cancer research, especially lung and breast cancer. The camp is named for Dawn Lawrenz, a coach and physical educator who passed away in 2007 from complications from lung cancer. Charuk also volunteers in the summer at the Texas Wildlife Rehabilitation Coalition feeding birds. During her summer playing with the Canadian National Team, Charuk participated in Sneakers In Motion. It was a campaign to raise awareness of the importance of physical activity.

Competition

Charuk is a decorated volleyball player at the University of Houston. During her three-year career, she has been named to the All-Conference USA First Team as a sophomore and junior. In addition she is a two-time AVCA All-American Honorable Mention and an AVCA Midwest All-Region Team selection. During the summer of 2011, Charuk traveled to Canada and earned a spot on the Canadian Senior National Team where she completed in the Pan-American Cup in Chihuahua, Mexico.